stato-, stat-, sta-, -static, -stasi, staso-, -stasis, -stasia, -stacy, -stitute, -stitution, -sist

1. Survival; the minimal amount of resources for living: Tom was without a job, without money, in total poverty, and had no procurable means of subsistence, like food!
2. The fact of existing in truth: The presence, or subsistence, of life has allowed many creatures to inhabit and populate the earth.

1. Referring to someone or something that exists: Rebecca was very surprised when she actually saw the subsistent amphibian in the zoo and not only having read about it in her biology book at school.
2. Inherent: The subsistent attributes of her character allowed her to receive the award for being the most exceptional colleague in the firm.

1. A particular kind of matter that consists of uniform properties: The plumber used a pipe that was coated with an oily substance.
2. The physical matter of which something is made: The food that anyone eats is a substance which is tangible or can be touched.
3. Wealth, possessions, and property: Wolfgang has become a man of substance since he started his computer business. © ALL rights are reserved.

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1. Concerning merchandise of inferior quality: The chair Mr. Smith bought for his living room was evidently made of substandard pieces of wood because soon after buying it, it fell apart and he had to repair it!
2. Referring to something which is second-rate; below a prescribed criterion: The Jackson family had to live in a substandard housing complex because they just didn't have the money to afford a better appartment.

1. Pertaining to something which is quite large or significant: The caretakers set up a substantial number of seats for the guests for the big farewell party at the office.
2. Concerning a sufficient and plentiful amount of food: Before going on the long hike up the mountain, Jack and Jill had a very substantial and wholesome breakfast at the hotel.
3. Regarding the excellent quality or condition of something: Janet wanted her house to be build solidly with substantial timber, and not with plywood.
4. Characterizing a fact with a firm basis; not imaginary: Sam and Susan had a substantial and happy relationship which was fundamental for living together for so many years!
5. Descriptive of something worthwhile or important: The politicians were thinking of making substantial reforms regarding the tax system.
6. Denoting wealth or importance: Because Grace had substantial funds in the bank, she was able to go on trips around the world every year!

1. Descriptive of how much something amounts to or to what degree or proportion; considerably: The number of babies born that year has changed significantly or very much in comparison to the years before.
2. Pertaining to how something is largely accurate or stable: essentially: Mrs. Smart checked the number of students who were sick that day and found it substantially correct, with a few exceptions.

1. To verify or to prove something by supplying evidence or facts: The officer asked the witness if she had the facts to substantiate the information she was providing about the bank robbery.
2. To make real or actual by providing evidence which proves that something actually exists: The research that the agronomists (soil scientists) did on their trip to the desert will substantiate the theories they were proposing about water conservation and plant growth. © ALL rights are reserved.
© ALL rights are reserved.

Go to this Word A Day Revisited Index
so you can see more of Mickey Bach's cartoons.

1. Validation; the truth found by confirmation: Some types of substantiation are a crosscheck, a redundancy check, a checksum, or a bed check in which each one has been verified as correct.
2. The act of verifying and corroborating something: Through substantiation or probate by the lawyer, the will was proven to be in accordance to the law of the country.

Relating to a noun: Jane simply wanted to use a lot of flowery substantial terms, or those which have the function of such terms, in her paper to impress her teacher, Mrs. Gregory.

The part of speech that is used as the subject or as the object of a verb in a grammatically correct string of words: In the sentence, "The cat is running away", the word "cat" is termed as the substantive and appears before the predicate.

1. Referring to the most important or central aspect of a thing: The most substantive and significant issues were brought forward at the beginning of the meeting.
2. Pertaining to a thing which is enduring, solid, firm: Jane thought that the perspective of building a house for herself as being quite substantive and tangible, a realistic endeavor.
3. Descriptive of a concept or matter which exists independently and not subordinate to another: In her biology class at school, Mary learned that nothing is substantive in the cycle of life where each living being is contingent upon the others in order to survive.
4. Substantial; characterizing a considerable amount of something: John and Ginny have certainly made substantive progress in their work on the dictionary!
5. Regarding the specific verb "to be": In the sentence, "Jane is tall", the substantive predicate is "is", the third person singular of the infinitive, "to be"!

1. Reflecting how something is done or acted on in an objective or apparent way: The reason why Jim wanted to become a teacher was substantively based on his interest in helping children to learn!
2. Pertaining to how a word functions as a noun: In order to make her English essay more interesting, Mary used verbs and adjectives substantively.

Referring to something or someone that is needed or employed instead of another: Jane had a substitute teacher for German on Monday because her regular German teacher was sick with the flu!

Mrs. Jones liked to use substitute sugar in her tea instead of real sugar.

1. A replacement for someone or something: Some people use almond milk as a substitute for dairy milk.
2. A sports player as a back-up; fill-in or stand-in: There were no substitutes available, so the players were all hoping that no one would get hurt on the field or have to leave the game.

1. To exchange one thing for another equivalent thing: For the salad dressing, a normal onion can be substituted for a spring onion.
2. To fill in, as to cover for someone: Mrs. Smith had to substitute for Mr. Thompson because he was sick that day.
3. To replace: Some of the old parts of the machine were rusty and had to be substituted with new ones.